A Past Brought Present
by lil prongs chicky
Summary: Even Albus Dumbledore's done things he wishes to forget about but when his students find out will they forgive him or will he be forced to finish what he once started?
1. Beginning of the end

Dumbledore looked up from his work as his office door creaked open. A shimmering silver fox trotted in and leapt up onto the chair in front of the large mahogany desk.

"Good evening, Cameron." Dumbledore said. The fox nodded and within seconds a tall black haired boy with blazing blue eyes sat in its place.

"Hello Professor." He said.

"I am sure Firenze explained why I've asked you here."

Cameron smirked.

"He tried but he kept getting distracted by the unusual glow of Mars."

"Yes, that is why I find it much easier to speak with centaurs during the day if possible."

"So why exactly did you ask me here tonight? You of course know that my time is limited." Cameron said curtly.

"My sources tell me that Voldemort Plans to attack the school this year. Unless my students find a way to come together Hogwarts is sure to fall."

Cameron leaned back in his chair, lazily putting his hands behind his head.

"What does that have to do with me?"

"You and I both know you have a way of forming unlikely bonds. I am asking you to use that particular talent on my students." Dumbledore studied the teen over the tips of his fingers.

"What's in it for me?" Cameron asked after a beat.

"For most I would think the prospect of saving hundreds of lives would suffice but for you I know this is not the case."

"You know me well Dumbledore."

"Indeed. That is why I am offering you something I know you've been longing for, for many years."

The cocky smirk melted off Cameron's face.

"What?" he said barely above a whisper.

"I will grant you freedom from the Forbidden Forest."

The words crashed into Cameron like a brick wall.

"F-freedom?" he stammered.

Dumbledore nodded slowly.

"Yes, you will be free to move on with a new life or pick up where you left off in your studies."

Cameron nodded fractionally.

Dumbledore sat in silence for a moment as he watched a long diminished light flicker to life in Cameron's eyes.

"Do we have a deal?" He asked. The self-assured smile returned to Cameron's face.

"If you need people tricked into working together, I'm your man."

The pair shook hands just as the clock chimed one o' clock in the morning.

Cameron gasped and his hand shot to his chest.

"The forest calls."

Dumbledore nodded and watched as the teen transformed back into a fox and bound out of the office.


	2. Mystery arises

Two days later Hermione sat in her favorite chair in the Gryffindor Common room as she waited for Ron and Harry to come down so they could all go to breakfast together

"Morning 'Mione."

"Good morning Ginny."

"Where are Ron and Harry?"

"Still trying to wake up I think. They had another detention with Snape last night and he kept them out really late."

"What were they in trouble for this time?"

"They got into another fight with Malfoy and Zabini."

Ginny rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure they didn't have to serve detention."

"Of course not, Snape just gave them a warning and took five house points which he replaced later.

The sound of shuffling feet ended the girls' conversation.

"Good morning boys." Ginny said. She was answered with a series of grunts from her brother and an exhausted hug from Harry.

The girls laughed at the boy's actions and lead the way to the Great Hall.

"How was detention, Weaselbee?"

The Gryffindors stopped just outside the Great Hall doors and spun around.

"Shove off, ferretface." Ron snapped angrily. All signs of fatigue left his eyes as well as Harry's. Hermione put a hand on Ron's shoulder.

"You two just got out of a detention, you don't need another one." She said firmly. Ron and Harry looked at each other and reluctantly began to turn away from the Slytherins.

"That's right Weasel listen you your beaver toothed friend." Blaise said coldly. Malfoy laughed.

Ron and Harry spun back around, drawing their wands as they turned.

"Wow beavers, ferrets, and weasels; sounds like Hogwarts has a bit of a rodent problem."

The Slytherins and Gryffindors jumped slightly at the unfamiliar voice. A boy with jet black hair and intense blue eyes stood with his back against a near by wall and his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Who the bloody hell are you?" Draco snapped. The boy glanced at him for a moment and a type of recognition crossed his features. Everyone watched as the new boy looked Draco up and down as if sizing him up.

"You're Lucius Malfoy's son aren't you?"

Everyone's eyes widened in shock as they looked from Draco to the strange teen.

"How do you know that?" Draco asked but again he was ignored.

The boy turned his attention to Harry and Ron.

"You're James Potter's son and you're very obviously and Weasley."

Struck speechless an uncomfortable silence settled over the group. Blaise was first to recover.

"What are you playing at?" he growled.

"I'm not playing anything but you must be playing stupid if you don't know who I am Zabini."

"Well you already know who we are, now who are you?" Harry asked.

"I am very excited to see if this works out better then last time."

With that he turned and disappeared down the corridor and around a corner.

"That was certainly odd." Hermione said.

"Who was that kid?" Blaise asked curiously. Everyone shook their heads.

"I don't know I've never seen him before." Ginny said. Forgetting all about their fight the teens went into the Great Hall.

During Breakfast Harry, Hermione, and Ginny compared theories on the strange boy.

"Maybe he's a transfer student." Ginny suggested. Hermione shook her head.

"No I don't think so. How would he have known your surnames?"

"Well everyone in the entire wizarding world knows Harry's story so it wouldn't be difficult to recognize him." Ginny said.

"But he didn't refer to Harry as Harry. He used his father's name." Hermione recalled. The girls fell into a thoughtful silence. Ginny turned to Harry who was staring blankly at the tabletop. His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration.

"What are you thinking about?" Ginny asked.

"What do you suppose he meant by last time?" he questioned. Hermione and Ginny looked at each other and shrugged.

"I don't know. It could mean anything really." Hermione said thoughtfully. Ron swallowed his mouthful of eggs and spoke up for the first time.

"You three are looking way too far into this. There are about a million ways to know who we are." He snapped irritably.

"But don't you think it's odd that we've never seen him around Hogwarts before or that he was talking about our fathers?" Ginny argued.

"Hogwarts is a huge school! I'm not completely sure who everyone in my own house is let alone the rest of the school. For all we know he could have been here all this time and we've just never noticed him before." Ron exclaimed. Ginny and Hermione looked poised to argue but the bell for morning classes cut them short. Ginny said good-bye to Hermione and kissed Harry on the cheek before heading off for her Herbology class. Harry, Ron, and Hermione left the Great Hall in silence but halfway to the dungeons Hermione voiced her question.

"What house do you suppose he's in?"

Ron grunted irritably and quickened his pace. His friends stared after him for a moment before turning back to each other.

"I couldn't tell you 'Mione. He wasn't wearing a tie and I didn't even see a badge on his robes."

In the potions lab the duo sat on either side of Ron at their usual table in the back of the room. While Ron and Harry talked about Quidditch Hermione took to reading her book. She looked up when Blaise, Draco, and Pansy walked in talking about the boy. As she continued to listen in on other conversations around her Hermione realized almost every group was sharing one experience or another they'd already had with the unfamiliar kid.

Snape burst through the doors of his office and silence fell immediately. He looked out at his class.

"Break into pairs and do as instructed on page 493." He ordered. The class jumped up, pairing off and gathering supplies at the same time.

Hermione partnered with Lavender Brown and decided to ask her if she'd heard about anything strange goings on at Hogwarts.

"Well there is that new guy I'm sure you've heard about already. Apparently his name is Cameron but that's about all anyone really knows for sure." Lavender explained as she sliced up her mandrake root. Hermione nodded while smashing her bowtruckle skin into a fine powder and added it to the simmering potion.

"Have you actually talked to him?" Hermione asked.

"No but I saw him." Lavender sighed dreamily and put a hand on her heart. "He had the most amazing eyes I've ever seen and he had a body like a professional Quidditch player. I'm serious Hermione I think he's a god or something." Lavender giggled and Hermione inwardly rolled her eyes.

"When did you see him?" Hermione asked.

"Last night I think it was. Yeah, Hannah and I were trying to keep Terry from getting into a fight with Anthony Goldstein. Cameron walked right up to the two of them and led them away. A few minutes later Terry comes back to us and when we went to dinner that night he and Anthony were actually civil to either. They didn't really talk or anything but they didn't try to beat the snot out of each other either."

"What happened to Cameron?" Hermione asked. Lavender shrugged.

"I have no clue. He didn't come back after he talked to Anthony and Terry. The boys said that he was really strange though."

"Strange like how?" Hermione asked.

"It didn't make since to me really but they said that when he talked it was like he knew exactly what to say to get them talking to each other almost like friends. As soon as he left though their dislike for each other came back but no where near as strong." Lavender explained.

"That's interesting." Hermione said thoughtfully.

"Isn't it though?"

Hermione and Lavender were the first to finish their potion and turn it in. Soon the rest of the class finished as well and Snape dismissed them all.

Ron, Harry, and Hermione made their way to Care of Magical Creatures class together. Hermione filled Harry in on everything that Lavender had told her during potions while Ron walked behind them in silence.

"Do you suppose he used magic on them?" Harry asked.

Hermione shook her head.

"I don't think so. Anthony and Terry are pretty big and probably could have over powered Cameron if they really wanted to." She said.

"Maybe it was wandless and they didn't even know it was happening?" Harry tried. Hermione thought about this for a moment.

"That doesn't sound right either. Terry just said he talked a lot and unless Lavender left it out there was no mention of any kind of spell or anything."

Out of suggestions Harry fell silent. By now the trio had made it to Hagrid's hut.

"Gather 'round ther' ya are. Alrigh' I've got quite a treat fer you lot." Hagrid said as the last of his students trickled into the circle.

The rest of the hour was spent with Hagrid giving notes to the class about the Thestral he'd brought to show them. A few people took turns trying to pet the invisible creature. Movement in the nearby forest caught Hermione's eye. She turned away from her class and stared harder and caught a glimpse of a silver fox tail. Turning back to the class she raised her hand curiously.

"Yes, Hermione?" Hagrid said warmly.

"Hagrid, are there any silver foxes in the Forbidden Forest?" Hermione asked curiously. The pureblood wizard children who'd never heard of the muggle creature looked at her in confusion but she ignored their questioning gazes. Hagrid began to fidget the way he had back in their first year when he tried not to tell them about the three headed dog named Fluffy.

"Uh of course not. Foxes are purely muggle creatures and have no magical use what's so ever. Nope there's not a single fox in these forests anywhere. Not a one. Alright class you're dismissed." Hagrid said quickly. Confused the class lingered for another minute before turning and walking back towards the castle.

"You saw a fox, 'Mione?" Harry asked on the walk back to Hogwarts. Hermione nodded.

"I think so but I'm not sure, it disappeared before I got a good look at it. At first I thought it was a person but when I looked again I saw a silver fox tail." She said.

"Well by the way Hagrid acted I would say it's possible and that we aren't supposed to know about it." Harry said with a small smile. Hermione laughed.

"What is it with you two today?" Ron asked sharply. Hermione and Harry turned.

"What?" Harry asked.

"You see some bloke you've never seen before and you act like its some great mystery of the ages. Then Hermione sees a fox -whatever the bloody hell that is- and you get all excited. Am I just missing something?" Ron snapped.

"What is with you today, Ronald? You've been acting like a real arse ever since this morning." Hermione asked.

"Oh am I now? Well excuse me!" The red head pushed between his friends and made his way up to the castle at a brisk walk. Hermione turned to Harry who shrugged.

"Snape kept us really late last night. You know how he gets when he's tired." He said. Hermione nodded. The pair walked up to the castle in silence and went their separate ways when Hermione went to Muggle Studies and Harry headed for Divination.

The Divination tower we sweltering hot as usual and the air was thick with enough perfume to make anyone nauseous. Harry saw Ron was sitting with Seamus and Dean and hadn't bothered to save him a seat. Deciding not to make a scene, Harry went and sat with Justin Finch-Fletchy and Anthony Goldstein. The boys greeted him and immediately included him in their Quidditch conversation.

Ron sat with his arms crossed in front of his chest while Dean and Seamus talked in hushed tones. His already short fuse grew shorter when the pair kept looking at him curiously. After the third time he'd had enough and demanded to know what they were looking at.

"We were just wondering if you and Harry were fighting again like last year." Dean said quickly.

"No we're not fighting but he and Hermione won't stop talking about that Cameron bloke and I can't take it anymore." Ron answered sharply.

"Oh you've heard about him too then?" Seamus said.

"What are you two going on about?" Dean asked. Ron groaned and hit his head on the table as Seamus explained what he knew about Cameron. The boy continued to talk in hushed tones after Trelawney started the class.

"Smith and I were serving detention with McGonagall last night after dinner and when it was over we got into it in the corridor. Some how Cameron separated us and the three of us got to talking, I don't have the slightest idea what we talked about but whatever it was made Smith and I completely forget what we were fighting over." Seamus said.

"So what he said some magic words and you two were over your fight? You're full of fluff Finnegan." Ron said icily.

"You don't understand, Weasley. He didn't use magic. I don't think he even had a wand." Seamus argued. "The strangest part was when started rubbing his chest like it was hurting him or something. He told us that he was going for a walk outside but when Smith and I tried to follow him we lost him around a corner so we took a shortcut outside but he was no where in sight."

Dean sat back in his chair in silence. Even Ron couldn't help but be intrigued by the story.

The rest of the hour dragged on with Trelawney predicting great happiness and fortune for her favorite students and horrible deaths and lifetimes of sorrow for her least favorites. Finally she dismissed them with a warning to avoid anything edible and green for the next two weeks if they wanted to avoid tremendous despair.

Soon it was time for lunch and everyone trekked into the Great Hall. A few girls were craning their necks hoping to spot Cameron among the crowd. Ron sat next to Hermione, Harry, and Ginny smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry about earlier." He said. Hermione patted his hand.

"That's alright. We're quite used to you being grumpy when you don't have a full nights sleep." She said. Her friends laughed.

"Oh listen to this…" Ron went on to explain everything Seamus had said earlier. When he finished his friends and sister were silent for a moment as they thought over everything. Harry pushed his friend in the shoulder.

"I thought you didn't want to know anything about this." He said with a smile. Ron shrugged.

"What do you suppose was wrong with him that he had to leave?" Ginny asked.

"I was wondering that same thing." Hermione said.

"Where do you suppose he went?" Harry wondered. Everyone shook their heads when no answer came to mind. Fred plopped down next to Harry and George sat beside Hermione on the other side of the table. The conversation quickly changed from the mystery of Cameron to whatever the twins felt like talking about.

After dinner later that night Hermione excused herself.

"I'm going to go to the library to see if I can find anything about foxes in the Forbidden Forest."

Her friends said good-bye and she left the great hall.

Down in the library Hermione went directly to the section she knew held a copy of _Hogwarts a History. _She stopped in her tracks when she saw someone already had her book open on the table in front of him.

"Malfoy?" she said in surprise.

The blonde looked up her and smirked.

"Surprised to see someone else open a book with no pictures?" he asked. Hermione glared at the Slytherin and turned away to scan the shelves for a different book.

"Where's Weaslebee and Scarhead?" Draco asked. Hermione could tell the Slytherin was trying to get a rise out of her and worked not to give him the satisfaction. She focused on looking for a book on the Forbidden Forest and ignored the boy totally. Draco however wouldn't let the girl off so easily.

"What are you looking for?" he asked.

"It's none of your concern." Hermione said shortly. She finally found one of the books she was looking for and pulled it off the shelf. Hermione turned to walk away while she was reading it but ran into something solid. She picked up her book and when she stood back up she found herself almost face to face with Cameron. Draco stood up from his chair.

Cameron smiled slightly.

"Wow two days and already I've got the arrogant, pureblood Slytherin working with the know-it-all muggleborn Gryffndor." He said smoothly as he leaned against the bookshelf and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"So what are you two doing anyway?" he asked.

"We're trying to figure out who you are, care to save us the time?" Draco said.

"Not really."

"Then can you tell us how you know who we are?" Draco tried.

"Of course I could but I'm not going too."

"Then what are you doing here?" Draco snapped. By now the blonde's face was inches away from Cameron's. But while Draco's expression was filled with frustration, Cameron's was smooth with amusement playing in his eyes.

"I'm having fun. What are you doing?"

"Enough with the bloody head games!" Draco exclaimed. He whipped out his wand and aimed it at Cameron. Hermione gasped slightly. The smile faded from Cameron's lips and his eyes darkened.

"Your fuse is just as short as your father's. It always got him into trouble when he was younger."

As the boys stared each other down Hermione gently pushed Draco back so that she was in front of Cameron instead. The boy looked down at her.

"Cameron," she said softly, "is there a reason why you are at Hogwarts?"

Cameron's intense blue eyes bore into Hermione's honey brown ones but the girl refused to turn away.

"Yes." He admitted. "I've been asked to break down the barriers dividing the students at this school."

Draco scoffed.

"Dumbledore's been trying to do that for years. What makes you think you can do it?" he asked.

Cameron's eyes seemed to flash in the dim lighting of the library.

"I've almost done it before." With that he turned and walked away.

"Hey." Draco called after him. The blonde followed the other boy down isle after isle of books but soon he came back to Hermione looking confused and agitated.

"He's gone."


	3. first signs

Draco and Hermione continued to search the library for books after Cameron disappeared. The pair didn't speak to each other as they looked but did share a table so they didn't have to walk so far to get a book the other may have already found. As time passed the pair was joined by the Patil twins who asked Hermione how they could help. Eventually Blaise joined the group and slowly more and more students from every house were gathered around a group of tables in the center of the library. Part of the group took notes from what other's read to them. Some spent their time either looking for record books of past Hogwarts students or anything about foxes living in the Forbidden Forest.

The librarian had to force the students to leave shortly before midnight. Everyone agreed to continue the search during their free periods the next day.

Hermione climbed through the portrait hole with her nose buried in a book just after midnight. She jumped slightly and almost dropped her book when someone called her name.

"Oh Ron, Harry you scared me." She said breathlessly.

"Where have you been? We haven't seen you since dinner." Ron asked.

"I told you I went to the library." Hermione reminded him.

"Did you find anything?" Harry asked. The brunette sat in her favorite chair across from her friends and stroked Crookshanks when he leapt into her lap.

"We did find his name in one Quidditch book. His last name is Scott. He played on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team as keeper and holds the record for most consecutive saves in a single game." She said. "Another book said he got a special award in Transfiguration for making himself an animagus."

"My dad and Sirius did that and they didn't get any award." Harry said.

"Yes but they didn't tell anyone they'd done it either now did they?" Hermione argued. "Anyway, that's about all we found and considering how many people were working on this its very frustrating to have so little information."

"What do you mean so many people? You went to the library by yourself." Ron pointed out.

"Yes but Malfoy was there when I arrived and eventually a whole lot of other students from every house was helping. It was quite amazing actually. No one fought the entire time." She said.

"The point is we still don't know hardly anything about this Cameron. This would be so much easier if we could just ask someone. " Harry said. Ron nodded and Hermione jumped up from her seat, sending an angry Crookshanks crashing to the floor.

"Harry you're brilliant! I can't believe we didn't think of this before!" Hermione exclaimed. She ran up the stairs to the girls' dormitory and came back down moments later with a piece of parchment and a self inking quill.

"Excuse me Hermione but what the bloody hell are you going on about?" Ron asked.

"All the people Cameron named off went to Hogwarts at around the same time. Not everyone would have been in the same year however but that's not important." Hermione explained as she wrote furiously. "Cameron identified Harry and Malfoy's fathers and if I remember correctly Sirius told us once that Lucius was a 7th year while they were 1st years. If have everyone who has a parent who was at Hogwarts between those two years writes home and asks a few questions we're bound to get something. And Harry since you're so close with Dumbledore, you could even ask him!"

"That's excellent Hermione but how are you going to figure out when everyone's parents were in school at that time?" Harry asked.

"Well I'll ask them of course. I'll tell everyone about this idea and then they can figure out when their parents were in school here. It's absolutely perfect!" Hermione exclaimed. "I'm going to send Sirius and Remus their letters tonight and tell everyone else in the morning at breakfast." She said. "Harry could I borrow Hedwig?"

"Sure, I'll go get her; she's up in our dorm."

Harry ran upstairs and came down with his snowy white owl perched on his arm. He held her up so Hermione could tie the letters to her legs and then took her over to the window.

"Take those to Sirius." He said softly to her. Hedwig hooted softly before spreading her wings and soaring out the window. The trio watched the owl until she was nothing more then a speck.

"Well I'm off to bed. See you two in the morning." Hermione said cheerfully. Ron and Harry bid her good night and made their way up to their own beds. Neither of them spoke until they were under their covers and darkness covered them on all sides.

"Do you think Hermione's plan is going to work?" Ron's voice asked from somewhere to Harry's left.

"I dunno. I guess we'll have to see how all the parents respond." Harry answered. The pair fell silent and soon their breathing evened out as they fell asleep.

The next morning Hermione waited impatiently for the boys to get ready so they could go to breakfast together. By the time they made it down stairs she was pacing irritably.

"What could possibly take you two so long to get down here?" she asked as she lead the way out of the portrait hole. Her friends shrugged behind her.

"You should be glad we're up at all." Ron said.

"Yeah it's Saturday and we've got Quidditch against Slytherin today." Harry reminded her. Hermione rolled her eyes.

In the Great Hall the brunette left her friends and ran over to a group of Ravenclaws Ron and Harry had never met before. The boys watched as the Ravenclaws nodded excitedly before breaking off to talk to other groups in the Great Hall. A brave girl even went over to talk to Pansy Parkinson at the Slytherin table. Pansy passed the message to Draco and Blaise who passed it down the table towards Nott and Millicent Bulstrode. Soon people began pulling out parchment and quills and beginning to write letters at the same frantic speed Hermione had written hers the night before. The Gryffindor girl walked back to her friends with a wide smile on her face.

"Now all we have to do is wait." She said happily.

"I just don't understand it." Ron said shaking his head. "Every year since we've gotten here there has been some sort of mystery but no one ever helped us then. Now there's one kid who disappears shortly after anyone talks to him and is never seen other then when there is or about to be a fight walking around that no one knows anything about and the whole school's getting excited. Sure his name is in records from back when our parents were in school but he only looks about 17 but is that any reason to completely forget how much we hate Slytherins just to figure out who he is?"

Hermione and Harry stared at their friend for a long moment before turning and walking away without him.

Up at the head table Dumbledore watched his students busily write letters. He was only partially certain he knew what the letters would say and if he didn't have faith in his former students to keep their promises he would have been worried. Beside him McGongall shook her head in disbelief.

"Ravenclaws speaking civilly with Slytherins, Hufflepuffs working with Gryffindors, last night Madame Pince said she had to clear out at least twenty students from all four houses. Not because they were fighting but because they'd been working together until almost midnight. I've never seen anything like this, Albus."

Dumbledore nodded once.

"Of course you have, Minerva. Do you recall a certain few Gryffindors and a select number of Slytherin's embarking on an adventure that the rest of the school quickly became a part of?"

Slowly realization replaced confusion on the Transfiguration teachers face.

"Cameron Scott." She said breathlessly.

A tiny from the headmaster confirmed the witch's guess.

"But Albus last time…" she started but the man cut her off.

"Last time Cameron was working of his own accord. This time I have asked him to come here and attempt to unify my students. Also I have offered him something I know he will not jeopardize."

"What if you're wrong? What if he decides he doesn't want whatever you have offered him and does it again? The last group of students only survived out of pure luck and talent. Who knows what could happen?"

"Whatever Cameron has in store for these students is far better then what will happen if he should fail."

Later that day all the students filed out of the castle and down to the Quidditch pitch.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the most anticipated Quidditch match of the season; Slytherin versus Gryffindor!" Lee cried into his microphone. The crowds cheered excitedly.

Inside the Gryffindor locker room Angelina had just given her team her pep talk. Ron stood beside Harry bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet.

"Nervous?" Harry asked with a smile.

"Just a little." Ron admitted. Harry patted his friend on the shoulder twice right before the bell sounded for the teams to walk out to the pitch.

"Alright everyone here we go." Angelina said from the head of the line. She shouldered her broom and led the way out of the locker room. Out on the pitch the teams stood in a circle around Madame Hooch who gave them all the rules and warnings before she released the bludgers first and then the snitch. She finally pulled the quaffle out of its spot.

"Mount your brooms." She ordered. The teams did so and pushed off on her whistle. Hooch waited a split second before tossing the ball into the air. Angelina snatched it with the tips of her fingers and zoomed off.

"And it's Gryffindor with the first possession." Lee said. The match went on for four agonizing hours with still no sign of the snitch. The teams kept matching each other point for point and were now tied at 100 points a piece. Both keepers were doing an excellent job of minimizing easy goals.

"Well folks at this point in the game both teams are probably wishing they had relief players. Unfortunately due to some unfortunate series of events neither team has a single spare player." Lee commentated.

The crowd had lost very little energy even after four hours. With all the intensity in the sky it was impossible not to get swept into it. After the fifth hour passed it began to rain. It started as barely a drizzle but within minutes it had become a steady downpour.

"Merlin these teams just can't seem to catch a break. The seekers couldn't spot the snitch in clear weather I don't think this rain is going to help matters at all."

The score settled now at 120 points Gryffindor and 130 for Slytherin.

Harry had spelled his glasses to repel water but still couldn't see through the almost solid sheets of rain. He could just make out Draco flying close behind him.

WOOSH

Harry heard it before he saw it but the sound was the unmistakable beating wings of the golden snitch. The Gryffindor looked around wildly. Five feet in front of him he could just spot the flittering gold wings of the snitch. The crowd cheered as Gryffindor made yet another goal to tie up the score once more.

Without another second of hesitation Harry flew after the snitch.

"I think Potter's spotted something!" Lee shouted into his microphone. He put his omnioculars to his eyes and scanned the sky for Harry. "Yes Harry Potter has spotted the Snitch. Go Harry!" He shouted. "Malfoy is coming in from the side. Watch it Harry."

Harry looked to his right and saw Malfoy closing the distance quickly. Harry laid himself flat against him broom and urged every ounce of speed out of it. The superior speed on his Firebolt inched Harry forward. He stuck out his hand and prayed to anyone who was listening that he could catch it and this whole miserable game would end.

"POTTER'S GOT THE SNITCH!" Lee shouted. "GRYFFINDOR WINS!" the crowds cheers were all but lost in the downpour. Both teams flew closer to the ground and leapt off their brooms. The Gryffindor teams pulled each other into a soggy group hug while the Slytherin's glared at them from behind.

Hermione ran through the crowd and threw her arms around Harry and Ron.

"You were brilliant; both of you!" she exclaimed.

"Thanks 'Mione." Harry said.

"Oi Hermione you're soaked." Ron said. He pulled his jacket off and draped it over her shoulders though it was just as wet as the rest of her clothes. Both of them blushed.

"Thanks Ron."

Harry looked between the two of them and slowly started backing up figuring they could use an alone moment. Harry was walking alone when he got shoved from behind. He barely kept himself from falling into the mud.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" he snapped as he spun around.

"That snitch should have been mine Potter. You cheated." Malfoy accused.

"You're crazy." Harry turned to walk away but Draco jerked him back by his shoulder.

"Don't walk away from me when I'm talking to you, scarhead." Harry shoved Draco's hand off his shoulder. A crowd started to form as the boys rolled in the mud, punching at every inch they could reach.

"That is quite enough!"

The crowd scattered and Malfoy and Harry jumped away from each other.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor and Slytherin and detentions tonight for each of you. Be in my room in one hour." McGonagall ordered. Before either boy could argue with her the professor turned and disappeared in the crowd. Draco and Harry glared at each other but went separate ways before they lost their houses any further points.

The boys were finally let out of detention at ten thirty that night. McGongall had had them beat the dust out of every tapestry, mat, or old house flag she could find. By the time the boys finished their arms were sore and weak. Now Draco and Harry walked through the corridors. Harry stopped dead in his tracks.

"Do you hear that?" he whispered. Draco stopped walking as well and listened hard.

"What is that?" he asked after a minute.

"I think it's coming from this way." Harry led the way down a dark corridor with Draco close behind. By now the sound was very distinctly that of paws running across the stone floor.

"There it goes!" Draco cried. He continued to run while pointing at the corner the creature had just disappeared around. The boys picked up their speed and flew around the corner finding themselves in the Entrance Hall.

"It's heading outside." Harry cried.

The boys could barely keep up with the little creature as it bound across the Hogwarts grounds and dove into the shadows of the Forbidden Forest. Without slowing both boys whipped out their wands.

"Lumos." They whispered. The tips of their wands lit up their paths but didn't reach far enough to see the foot come out from behind a tree. Harry tripped first and fell head over heels onto the forest floor, Draco crashed down beside him. The sound of laughter echoed through the forest.

"Bloody hell that was funny."

Draco and Harry stood, holding their wands out in front of them.

"What did you do that for?" Harry snapped.

"Well I couldn't very well let you two go charging through the forest at this hour now could I? I realize you do a decent job of beating the snot out of each other but I don't know if you could hold your own against the creatures in here."

"How do you know about that?" Draco asked.

"I watched your Quidditch match. It was very impressive."

Harry looked around and then back at Cameron.

"Did you see a fox run through here?" he asked. A smile played at Cameron's lips.

"Yeah it ran through here right before you two came charging through."

Around the trio leaves rustled and twigs snapped.

"What was that?" Harry asked for the second time that night.

"Well you are in the Forbidden Forest…it could be just about anything." Cameron said.

"You're too paranoid Potter." Malfoy said though his eyes reflected his true uncertainty. The blonde hadn't forgotten the first time he'd gone into the Forbidden Forest when he and Harry had had a run in with Voldemort.

"Shut your mouth, Malfoy." Harry snapped. Cameron made a clicking sound with his tongue.

"You two are so hostile towards each other. If you put that hostility on hold for a minute you'd realize how much power you hold between the two of you."

Draco and Harry looked at each other and then at Cameron who was leaning against a tree.

"What are you going on about?" Draco asked.

"Think about it. You're the Golden Boy of Gryffindor and the Prince of Slytherin. Everyone in your houses either respects or fears you in one way or another. If you two stopped making each look stupid you could rule the school. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff don't really have anyone who stands out as much as the two of you so they won't be a problem." Cameron said.

"I don't see how that gives us power. I mean doesn't Dumbledore rule the school?" Harry said. Cameron's eyes flashed dangerously.

"He doesn't have as much power as he thinks he does. And the little power he does have will not last much longer. When that time comes the students will look for a new leader. With them behind you, you could get whatever you want; less homework, easier tests, anything is possible."

Harry and Draco turned to each other again and Cameron slung an arm over each of their shoulders.

"Picture it. The two of you standing at the Head Table and demanding anything you want out of the teachers. With so many students behind you they'd be powerless to do anything but obey."

Cameron watched the effect his words took on each boy and continued his persuasion.

"Your chance to take power is coming. Will you be able to seize it when it arrives?"

Draco's silver eyes shone with excitement and greed. Harry even looked drawn to the prospect.

"All you've got to do is make amends and the possibilities will be endless." Cameron said softly. Harry and Draco hesitated for only a split second before sticking out their hands and shaking firmly. Cameron smiled and stepped away from the boys and into the shadows.

By the time Harry and Draco dropped hands he was gone. The boys looked around in confusion.

"Where'd he go?" Harry asked. Draco shrugged and then jumped slightly at the sound of snapping twigs.

"Um let's get out of here. This place gives me the creeps." He said. Harry nodded and the pair ran all the way out of forest and up to the castle.


	4. overheard

At midnight a silver fox could be seen bounding across the grounds of Hogwarts and up into its castle. The fox ran all the way to a stone gargoyle that sprang aside automatically when he pushed on its right knee cap. After riding the spiral stair case up to a large oak door Cameron transformed out of his fox form and raised his fist to knock on the door. The muffled sound of voices from the other side made him stop half way to the door. Cameron transformed back to a fox and pressed his ear against the doors smooth surface.

"I understand the position you're in Severus but I must do what is best for my school." Dumbledore said evenly. Snape continued to pace in front of the Headmaster.

"The Dark Lord will know something is wrong if you are all prepared when the Death Eater's arrive." He argued.

"We will not make it obvious that we know. The aurors will arrive shortly after the battle begins. This would happen whether or not there was any prior warning."

"What will you do until they arrive?" Snape asked.

"The students will fight." Dumbledore went on to explain the work Cameron had been doing during these past few days.

"Cameron Scott." Snape said spitefully. "You can't possibly be considering setting him free. He single handedly almost destroyed Hogwarts during his years here."

"I remember very clearly, Severus. That is precisely why I have no intention of freeing him. As a matter of fact after the battle I plan to trap him in the forest so he cannot leave it at all. Not even for the hour I granted him the first time." Dumbledore said.

Cameron growled at the door and considered running in and shredding the professor with his bare teeth and claws. He refrained himself when he realized Snape would probably kill him before he even reached the headmaster. Anger coursed through the teen's veins as he flew through the corridors and back into the darkness of the Forbidden Forest. Once back at the burrow he'd slept in since his entrapment Cameron transformed back into a human and began kicking at a near by tree. He ripped grass out of the ground and threw it as hard as he could. Cameron continued this until he was exhausted and fell to his hands and knees as he fought back furious tears.

He changed back into a fox and climbed into his burrow where he plotted his revenge on the headmaster.

The next morning excitement was heavy in the air as everyone awaited the mail. Finally a whole swarm of owls poured into the Great Hall; pelting the students with letters. Most were confused to find their envelopes to be red and puffing out smoke. In a deafening chorus they all exploded together.

"-are forbidden from speaking to him!"

"-stay away or you will be severely punished."

"-don't listen to anything he says."

Warning after warning blasted through the Great Hall. The few students who hadn't received Howlers found their letters just as forbidding. As usual on weekends the Head Table was vacant of teachers. But slowly the students realized someone was watching them from where Dumbledore usually sat. Cameron waited as silence fell and all attention fell on him.

"Forbidden, almost each and everyone one of you has been forbidden to have anything to do with me. Did any of your letters tell you exactly _why_ you're not to have anything to do with me?" He looked out over the students waiting for an answer he knew wouldn't come. "Dumbledore, back when all you're parents were in school he made them promise, _swear _even that they would never, ever speak of what happened here; of what happened to me.

"Some of you parents very well might be followers of the Dark Lord which puts them against Dumbledore in every way but as you've just figured out even they don't dare go against the promise they made to him so many years ago."

Cameron stood from Dumbledore's seat and walked around the table so that he was in front of it. He began to pace as he spoke again.

"Dumbledore has extended his control over you even outside of school. He knows none of you are willing to contradict him. He knows none of you are strong enough to demand the information you have every right to posses."

Murmurs of protest broke out among the students.

"What? Some of you think you could walk up to the Headmaster and get him to tell you what he did and why he demanded your families keep it quiet?"

A majority of the older students either nodded or muttered something under their breaths. Cameron took on a different approach.

"So maybe one or two of you thinks you could do it, maybe even three or four, what difference do you think that will make? Dumbledore could easily send you on your way. He would dismiss you and then laugh behind your cowardly backs. No, small groups won't due. You have to stand together. All of you have to stand up to him as a single unit. Among you is a leader who will unite you and make Dumbledore talk."

Draco looked up and Harry caught his eye. The pair nodded and stood. They walked up to the Head table and stood on either side of Cameron.

"Dumbledore can control us here at school but what right does he have to mess with our home lives as well?" Harry called out.

"For years he's tried to unite us under him so that we will be his own little army. If we unite on our own he has no power over us at all." Draco added.

"There is only one of him and hundreds of us!" Harry said.

"Let's show him who really has the power around here." Draco put-in.

Around the Great Hall students started standing, first one at a time and then in large groups until all students 3rd year and above were standing along with most of the younger students. Draco and Harry leapt down and led the way to the teacher's lounge where the teachers usually spent their weekends.

Harry knocked on the door roughly. The door opened and their headmaster stood in the doorway.

"What brings all of you here on this beautiful day?" he asked.

"Why did you make our parents swear not to tell us anything about Cameron?" Draco demanded. The twinkle left Dumbledore's eyes as he looked from the Slytherin to all the other students crowded behind him.

"That is between them and me. I suggest you all go find something more productive to do with your time off." Dumbledore said. He began to close the door but Harry stuck stopped it with his hand.

"No more secrets Dumbledore." He said. Draco raised his wand and all the students behind him did the same. Dumbledore looked to the very back of the crowd where Cameron stood leaning against the wall with his arms crossed in front of his chest. His eyes shone with a challenging gleam.

"Lower your wands before someone gets hurt." Dumbledore said firmly. No one moved and at that moment Dumbledore could almost feel his power over his students leave him.

"What did you do that was so horrible you can't even let our own parents explain it to us?" Harry asked.

"I did what had to be done and I will not hesitate to do it again." Dumbledore slammed the door shut in his students' faces and everyone stood in slight shock. Harry and Draco looked at each other and then at the hundreds of faces looking back at them.

"Any headmaster keeping secrets from his school is unfit to be followed." Cameron said icily. "You have all just done an excellent job of separating yourselves from an untrustworthy man."

"What do we do now?" A Hufflepuff said from somewhere in the middle of the crowd.

"Ask your leaders." Cameron said with a nodded towards Harry and Draco.

"Do whatever you like for now. Later anyone can feel free to join us in the library to look up more information on whatever Dumbledore might be hiding from us." Draco said. Harry nodded beside him. Both boys were shocked to see the crowd thin out as the students followed their orders. Soon the only ones left where Draco, Harry, Pansy, Hermione, Blaise, Ron and Ginny. Ron looked at his best friend curiously.

"What happened to the two of you?" he asked. Harry shrugged and looked up at Cameron but found he was no longer at his spot on the wall.

"How does he keep disappearing like that?" Harry asked.

"So what do we do now? Writing home didn't get us anywhere, confronting Dumbledore certainly didn't tell us anything." Blaise said. Hermione pulled out a folded letter from her pocket.

"This might help." She said. "Sirius and Remus told me to meet them in the Gryffindor Common room tonight at midnight. They'll be coming through the floo."

"Excellent that must mean they're going to tell us something important if they couldn't just say it in the letter." Ginny said excitedly. Harry turned to Draco.

"We will tell you everything they tell us tomorrow morning alright?"

Draco nodded.

"What about the rest of the school? They'll want to know too." Pansy asked.

"After we hear it we can decide how much to tell the rest of them." Draco said. Everyone nodded in agreement and decided to meet in the Room of Requirement two hours before classes started in the morning.

The rest of the night seemed to pass agonizingly slow. Harry lay on the couch with Ginny sleeping beside him and resting her head on his chest as he stared into the dying embers of the fire. Ron was sound asleep in his favorite chair and Hermione was reading.

Just as Harry's eyes began to droop the fire burst to life and Sirius stepped into the room closely followed by Remus. Hermione smacked Ron on the arm to wake him while Harry gently kissed Ginny on the top of her head until she woke up.

"Hey Siri." Harry said as he and Ginny sat up.

"Alright you lot what do you know so far about Cameron?" Sirius asked sharply. The teens looked at each other in confusion.

"Um not much really, he was at school around the same time as you and he played Quidditch." Hermione said.

"He spends a lot of time around the Forbidden Forest." Harry added.

"And none of this struck you as odd!?" Sirius snapped.

"Calm down, Padfoot." Remus said. Sirius took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry its just that it thought you had better judgment; especially you Hermione."

"We're sorry Sirius but I don't understand why you're getting so worked up. Cameron seems fairly harmless and he's really done an excellent job of uniting the school." Hermione explained. Sirius scoffed.

"Yeah I bet he has. Has he told you lot that there's something hidden in the Forest?"

The blank expression on the teenager's faces moved Remus into explanation.

"As you said Hermione Cameron did go to school with us. He was in his 6th year while we were in our first. He wasn't the kind of kid anyone really noticed; he really kept to himself. The Ravenclaw Quidditch team went undefeated every year he was on the team until James started playing that is. He'd catch the snitch before the other team got a chance to score too many times." Remus winked at Harry before continuing on with his story. "Anyway one day something seemed to change about him. He started talking to people more and became quite popular. Somehow he managed to befriend at least one person in every house."

"Oh yeah I can see why you'd hate him. Who could be friends with a Slytherin?" Ron said in disgust. Harry fixed him with a pointed glare. "Sorry Harry."

"No that's not why we hated him, Ron. Actually that's why we looked up to him as much as we did. James aspired to be as popular as he was and Sirius planned to get just as many girlfriends. I was more impressed with his grade point average."

"So I don't see the problem. Cameron seems like a really great person." Ginny said.

"That's what we thought and that's where the trouble started." Remus said before Sirius picked up the story.

"See he started talking about this secret door he'd read about. It was supposed to be hidden deep in the Forbidden Forest and was told to hide the most amazing treasure anyone had ever seen. The way he talked about it made it seem like who ever possessed this treasure was sure to be all powerful. The catch was the only way to open it was to have two members of each house touch it and mutter a spell at the same time." Sirius explained.

"Naturally the entire school became obsessed with the thought of getting to this treasure and soon Cameron selected two students from each house; Zabini and Malfoy from Slytherin, Boot and Bones from Ravenclaw, Abbot and Smith of Hufflepuff and Sirius and James from Gryffindor."

"Why didn't he pick older Gryffindor's or himself to go for Ravenclaw?" Hermione asked. Remus and Sirius shrugged.

"We never figured out his reasoning and honestly no one cared. The point was, we were chosen and everyone was eager to help us succeed." Sirius explained.

"Potions were made. New spells and hexes were developed for defense. Everyone worked together at what they were best at no matter what house they were from." Remus said. "It really was incredible."

"So that's what Cameron meant when he said that he'd almost achieved school unity once." Hermione said thoughtfully. The adults nodded.

"Exactly right." Remus said.

"Well soon it was the full moon before Halloween. Cameron had said that this was the only time the door was visible so everyone was ready to get the expedition started. The eight of us snuck out of Hogwarts after everyone else had been sent to bed. We pulled out the map Cameron had drawn out for us and charged into the Forbidden Forest." Sirius explained. "Hours passed and we seemed to be going in circles but Lucius, our map reader, insisted we were going the right way. I can't even remember how many times we were attacked; luckily the spells we'd learned were strong enough to save us."

"Finally they got to the end of the map and before them stood the tree that was supposed to hold the greatest treasure of all time. Instead it held nothing but a single note." Remus said.

"Congratulations, you've reached the tree of nothing special. Now pat yourselves on the back and say I'm as bright as a flobberworms arse." Sirius recited spitefully. The teens gasped in shock. Remus nodded and continued the story.

"When they got back and told everyone what had happened all hell broke loose. People started blaming each other for letting everyone believe such an outrageous lie. Lucius and James went to Dumbledore and told him everything that had happened."

"I've never seen him so angry." Sirius said distractedly.

"What did he do to Cameron?" Ginny asked.

"Dumbledore completely lost it. He was so livid he put a curse on Cameron that trapped him in the Forbidden Forest and made it impossible for him age or to leave the forest for longer then an hour at a time without feeling severe physical pain." Remus said.

"That seems extremely harsh!" Ginny gasped. The adults nodded.

"It seems that way now but back then we were glad we never had to see that bastard again." Sirius said.

"What about his parents, didn't they wonder what happened to him?" Harry asked. Sirius and Remus looked at each other for a minute.

"Dumbledore told them he died in a Quidditch accident." Sirius said quietly.

"He even transfigured a boggart to look like his dead body." Remus added.

"That's what Dumbledore didn't want us to known." Hermione whispered.

"He made the entire school swear not tell another living soul." Sirius said.

"And no one did. No one ever spoke of it again until the letters came." Remus said.

"Why did you tell us? None of the other parents told their kids anything." Harry asked.

"We figured if we didn't tell you now you wouldn't rest until you figured it out yourselves." Sirius said, ruffling his godson's hair fondly.

"I can't believe Dumbledore would so such a horrible thing." Ginny said.

"After all that why would Cameron come back to unite the school?" Harry asked.

The group fell silent.

"Well we should be going and you lot should get some sleep." Remus said after a while.

Everyone bid their goodbyes and after Sirius gave them all a firm warning to stay away from anything to do with Cameron the men left the same way they'd come in. By now sleep was the farthest thing from any of the teen's minds.

"I can't imagine Dumbledore losing control like that." Harry said.

"I don't understand why Cameron would come back here to unite us." Hermione wondered aloud.

"Maybe there's something in it for him." Ron suggested with a shrug.

"I guess the only way to know is to ask him." Hermione said. Ginny giggled.

"I don't think it's very likely that Cameron is just going to out and tell anything."

"Sorry Hermione but Ginny's right. Cameron isn't very open with his information." Harry reasoned.

"Maybe now that we know more about him we might actually be able to help him. If we offer to help he might be more willing to tell us what he's really up to."

With brains buzzing and bodies begging to be allowed to sleep, the teens dragged themselves off to bed.


	5. comparing notes

The next morning Draco, Blaise, and Pansy sat in the Room of Requirement waiting. Finally the door opened and Harry walked in closely followed by Ron and Hermione.

"About time." Pansy said.

"We would have been here sooner but some people have a tough time getting up in the morning." Hermione said with a pointed look at Ron.

"Let's get this over with. What did you find out last night?" Draco asked. The Gryffindors took turns reciting the story from the night before. When they finished the Slytherins stared at them in shock.

"So we haven't been wrong when we said Dumbledore is an evil, manipulative, bastard." Blaise said with a shrug. Pansy and Draco smirked.

"Well this certainly clears up what Sev told us last night." Draco said.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Last night we went to see if Snape would tell us anything about Cameron. He didn't but he did say that Dumbledore made a deal with him." Pansy explained.

"We told you we'd tell you what we found out, why'd you go to Snape?" Hermione asked. The Slytherins shrugged but didn't respond.

"Anyway Sev said that Dumbledore had no intension of following through with his end of the deal." Draco said. The group fell into a thoughtful silence.

"Do you think Cameron figured that out somehow? That would explain why he tried to turn all of us against Dumbledore yesterday." Ron reasoned.

Everyone nodded.

"Alright if we're done here…" Blaise said. He headed towards the door with Pansy close behind.

"Wait what are we going to do about Cameron?" Harry asked.

"What do you mean?" Pansy asked.

"We have to figure out a way to help him. Now that we know he's trapped in the Forest we can look for ways to let him out." Draco said. The Slytherins scoffed.

"Why would we do something like that? Did you not hear anything you just told us? He's insane. He belongs in the Forest." Pansy said. With that Pansy and Blaise left the Room.

Harry and Draco turned to Ron and Hermione.

"You two are going to help us right?" Harry asked. His friends shrugged guiltily.

"Sorry Harry but I think I agree with them. Who knows what he might do if we let him leave the Forest?" Ron said.

"He's already turned us all against Dumbledore. Who knows what he could have us do." Hermione reasoned.

"But…" Harry started but Ron shook his head.

"Sorry mate." Ron and Hermione left the Room, leaving Harry and Draco alone.

"Some friends they turned out to be." Draco said irritably.

"There's got to be someone in the school willing to help us free Cameron." Harry said.

"If what he said in the Forest was true all we have to do is ask and people should be jumping up to help us."

Harry nodded and led the way down to the Great Hall.

"What if Cameron doesn't want to be freed?" he said thoughtfully. Draco looked at him curiously.

"Are you off your rocker?"

"It makes since really. While he's trapped he can't age."

"He can't do much of anything else either." Draco reminded the Gryffindor.

The pair pushed the Great Hall doors open and was met with complete chaos. Food was scattered all over the floor and coated parts of the walls. Jets of light shot in every direction as duels broke out. Draco and Harry threw themselves to the ground, barely avoiding the stunning spells soaring towards them.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Draco shouted over everything. Silence fell slowly but the anger shining in everyone's faces didn't fade at all.

"Dumbledore is threatening to expel us all for what we did yesterday." Cho Chang said.

"What!?" Harry and Draco cried in unison.

"Yeah Hermione told us what he did to Cameron and what Cameron did to Hogwarts." A Ravenclaw boy shouted.

"So we decided to tell Dumbledore what we thought about his choice in punishment." Eloise Midgeon said.

"He was so angry at us for going behind his back that he's going to expel us." Cho finished.

"What'd you go talk to him for?" Harry asked.

"You told us we could." A Gryffindor girl shouted.

"Yesterday you said that we had the power over him."

"I don't understand what that has to do with all of you turning on each other." Draco said.

"When Dumbledore told us he planned to expel us and that he had no intension of letting us back in school next year we started blaming each other." Justin Finch-Fletchy explained.

"If some people would have kept their big mouths shut we wouldn't be in this mess." Cho cried out.

"You weren't trying to hard to stop anything!" Marietta snapped.

"Neither were you!" Cho argued.

Before anyone knew what was happening the girls were shooting hex after hex at each other. This act seemed to remind everyone of what they'd been doing before Harry and Draco distracted them. The fights weren't just house against house it was members of the same house fighting as well. It wasn't long before Draco and Harry began backing out of the Great Hall, leaving their friends to fend for themselves.

Once out of the Hall the boys closed the doors and leaned their backs against it.

"Is something wrong boys?" McGonagall asked. The boys looked at each other.

"Um no." Harry tried. The expression on the transfiguration teacher's face told the teens she didn't believe the blatant lie.

"Care to try again?" she asked.

"Not really, no." Draco said.

McGonagall pushed the boys to the side and opened the Great Hall. The chaos on the other side froze the moment everyone realized who was watching them.

"All of you, to your common rooms immediately." McGonagall demanded. Food fell to the ground as students released their unfired ammunition. The teens filed past the furious professor, suddenly very interested in their shoe laces. Soon it was only Draco and Harry standing alone with their teacher.

"Explain."

The pair took turns passing on the information they'd been given before the second round of fighting broke out.

"All this happened even among housemates?" McGonagall asked.

"Even the Weasley's turned on each other for some reason." Harry said.

"I told Dumbledore, he'd do this again." McGonagall said quietly.

"Honestly, it's almost entirely Dumbledore's fault this happened." Draco explained.

"That is a very serious assumption, Mr. Malfoy."

"With all due respect, Professor it's true. If Dumbledore hadn't planned to double cross Cameron, Cameron wouldn't have turned us against him. Then Dumbledore wouldn't have eventually threatened to expel all of us in which case no one would have started blaming each other for everything. So as you can see Malfoy's right. This is almost entirely Dumbledore's fault." Harry said very quickly.

"You don't understand everything Potter…"

"Actually we do. We know everything that happened when Cameron was in school here." Draco said.

"We know what Dumbledore issued as Cameron's punishment." Harry added.

"And we know that Cameron is thoroughly pissed about it." Draco finished.

McGonagall looked ready to ask how the boy's had found out so much information but thought against it.

"Whatever your own opinions may be, Cameron is a very dangerous individual even without magic."

"We know that. But he's also the only who has any chance of getting Hogwarts at least by to where it was before all this started." Harry reasoned.

"What are you suggesting?" McGonagall asked.

"We need to ask Cameron to come back and fix everything." Draco said simply.

"It is very unlikely he will agree. I believe his one and only goal is to see Hogwarts, or at the very least Dumbledore, fall." McGonagall said sadly. "And this time he might actually get to see it." She admitted.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked. McGonagall studied each boy very carefully for a moment.

'What I am about to tell you must not leave the three of us. If the other students hear tale of this they will panic and demand to be taken home immediately and that is just not something we are equipped to do at the moment."

Harry and Draco nodded firmly.

"You-Know-Who plans to attack Hogwarts."

Shock appeared on both boys' faces.

"When?" Harry asked immediately.

"It could be tomorrow, it could be next year we do not know. All we are sure of is that He is attacking and with the shape the school is in right now I fear that his victory is inevitable." McGonagall explained.

"Well we've got to do something. Why can't we send everyone home?" Draco asked.

"Ending the term so early in the year would draw to much attention. It is too possible that You-Know-Who could attack the train and we will have no way to protect them. It is better to keep everyone here so we can at the very least keep an eye on them."

"Then we'll fight. We'll hide the younger students and everyone else can help the teachers." Harry said firmly. McGonagall shook her head firmly.

"Absolutely not, allowing children to fight is as good as murder." She said.

"But that won't matter if Hogwarts falls and we're all trapped here. We'll either be killed anyway or made into Death Eaters." Draco argued.

"I'm sorry boys but at this time we have no further options."

"Yes we do." Harry said. He turned and started running out of the Great Hall. Draco followed after him though he had no idea where the Gryffindor was going. Once the pair was down a few corridors Harry spoke as he ran.

"Cameron may have been a jerk before but he was willing to help Hogwarts. I'm sure he'll help us get the students to stop fighting so that they don't kill each other before there's even an attack." He said.

"I hope your right Potter." Draco said breathlessly.

The pair ran all way to the Forest and skidded to a stop when the tree line began.

"Are we going in there?" Draco asked between breaths. Harry nodded as he pulled out his wand.

"If we want to find Cameron, yes we are going to go in there."

Draco pulled out his wand as well and took a deep breath.

"Scared Malfoy?" Harry asked.

"You wish." Draco said smirking.

The pair walked into the forest with their wands held ready in front of them in case they were attacked.

"Its really quiet in here." Draco said. Harry nodded.

"Most of the creatures in here are nocturnal aren't they? It's not even noon yet I don't think."

The boys continued walking in silence. By now they were deep in the forest and the trees were so close together they blocked out most of the sunlight. Harry called out Cameron's name at random intervals.

"Do you really think that's a good idea? What if something other then Cameron hears you?" Draco said.

"Relax Malfoy, nothing's going to…." Harry began but froze mid sentence as an arrow shot by, missing his head by mere inches.

"Your kind is not welcome here."


	6. facing arrows

Harry and Draco raised their wands and looked around in alarm. Neither teen saw anything in the shadows. They could just make out the sound of hooves falling gently on the forest floor.

"We don't want any trouble." Harry said.

"Then you should not have entered our Forest."

A chestnut centaur stepped forward out of the shadows with a bow in hand. A quiver of arrows was slung across his back.

"Ah Harry Potter, you of all you're kind should know not to come here."

"Believe us Morgann we wouldn't be here if it wasn't an emergency." Harry tried.

A sleek black bodied centaur named Bane stepped up beside Morgann. Bane also possessed a bow and arrows but unlike his accomplice his bow was loaded.

"The matters of the school are no matter of ours." He said icily.

"We understand that. That's why we just want to find our friend and get out as quickly as possible." Harry reasoned. Draco seemed to be frozen in fear beside him. Harry was fine with this arrangement as long as the Slytherin didn't speak or freak out and do something that would most likely get them killed.

"If you come for seemingly peaceful reasons, why do you bare your wands?" Bane demanded. Harry mentally kicked himself for not pocketing or at least lowering his wand while he'd been talking. At the moment his and Draco's wands were aimed directly at Morgann as if they planned to attack him. This fact had not gone unnoticed by the centaurs. Harry thought he heard the hoof beats of more centaurs coming to aide their leader.

"We brought them in case we needed to defend ourselves before we found our friend." Harry said carefully.

"What makes you think this friend is alive? If he is of your kind he would not have lasted long here." Morgann challenged.

"His name is Cameron and he has been in here for quite a few years." Harry explained. Suddenly another centaur came out of hiding though he kept his distance from the first two.

"How do you know of him?" Firenze asked.

"He's been up to our school a few times and we kind of need his help now."

"Leave here Firenze you are not welcome among us." Bane said forcefully. Firenze turned.

"As you said before the matters of the school are no matter of yours. But as a former member of the school its matters are indeed my own."

Bane raised his arrow with such speed Harry would have missed it if he'd blinked.

"You are a traitor to your kind. You deserve to die."

"But as you know I am under the protection of Albus Dumbledore. Your arrows cannot touch me." Firenze said calmly. Suddenly the teens found themselves under the point of about a dozen arrows from all directions.

"They are not under his protection. It is our way to rid the forest of tresp…"

"Expelliarmus!" Draco shouted suddenly. Without a moments hesitation Harry threw himself to the ground and dragged Draco down with him. The soft thrum of arrows leaving their bow filled the air but surprisingly Harry didn't feel any of them pierce him. He looked up cautiously and saw Firenze had thrown himself over the boys and now a brilliant blue bubble surrounded them all. The centaur picked both boys up in his muscular arms and took off running through the trees. Harry expected to hear the sound of dozens of hooves pounding the forest floor chasing them but after a while the only sounds were that of Firenze's own hooves.

After a few minute the centaur slowed to a stop in small clearing and set the boys on the ground. Harry glared at Draco.

"What the bloody hell did you do that for?" he asked.

"He was going to shoot us! Excuse me for trying to prevent that!" Draco argued.

"One disarming spell isn't going to do anything against twenty armed centaurs" Harry snapped.

"Well at least I was doing something! You just stood there chatting with them."

"As long as I kept talking we were alive. That is until you almost got us killed!"

"Do either of you ever shut up?"

Draco and Harry spun around and saw Cameron watching them from up in a tree branch. His back was leaned against the trunk of the tree and one of his legs hung down lazily while he kept the other close to his body.

"Cameron, thank Merlin!" Harry exclaimed. "Everything is a mess at the school! You've got to come back and fix it before Voldemort attacks."

"What happens at Hogwarts isn't my problem anymore." Cameron said.

"You've got to be joking." Draco snapped. "You're just going to sit in here while the rest of us get captured or worse."

"Dumbledore sealed your fate when he decided to screw me over. If you have a problem I suggest you take it up with him." Cameron said icily. Firenze stood off to the side watching the fight with interest. Over the years the centaur and Cameron had grown to be good friends and at the same time Firenze knew that once the teen's mind was made up it was very unlikely to be changed.

"Please, if you help us we'll make sure Dumbledore sets you free." Harry tried. Cameron's eyes darkened and his once amused expression turned ice cold. He pushed himself off the tree limb. He landed on his feet and stood so that his face was mere inches from Harry's.

"Do I strike you as a fool, Potter?" Cameron asked coolly. "I am not going to fall for the same trick twice. Even my freedom is not worth the cost of my dignity. Now get out of my forest and don't ever come back."

"But…" Harry started but Cameron shoved him roughly into a nearby tree. The Gryffindor barely caught his footing before he fell to the forest floor.

"I said leave!"

For a moment Harry and Draco stared at the boy in shock but the clear anger reflecting in those intense blue eyes made them turn away.

"I will escort you out." Firenze said. Draco nodded and followed the centaur out of the small clearing. Cameron glared at their retreating figures before climbing back into his tree.

The next few days at Hogwarts could only be described as Hell on earth. Not a single class went by without at least one house losing points. By the second day all four hourglasses were completely empty. The House tables in the Great Hall had been removed and replaced with hundreds of individual desks. Professor McGongall sat in the headmaster's seat at the head table with Snape at her right side.

During dinner of the third day she shook her head sadly and spoke to her colleague with despair in her voice.

"Three days Severus, three days, Hogwarts has been this way. Albus hasn't come out of his office in just as long. I don't think the students even remember why they are so angry with each other but still they fight every moment of the day. I just don't know what to do." She admitted. Snape nodded his understanding but soon began rubbing his forearm.

"This will not improve your mood but it is time." He said sharply. With that he pushed his seat back and disappeared from the Great Hall. McGongall stood and addressed her students grimly.

Inside the forest Cameron sat on the forest floor with his back against a tree and his head in his hands.

"Something is bothering you Young Fox."

Cameron sighed heavily but didn't look up at his friend.

"You could say that." he admitted.

"Do you wish to talk about it?" the centaur asked. Cameron shook his head in frustration and leaned his head against the tree behind him.

"I don't know what's wrong with me Firenze." He said. "I know I shouldn't have gone up to the school in the first place. I knew I should just stay here and forget the school and everyone in it exists. But I didn't. I let Dumbledore use the possibility of freedom against me."

"Your desire to be free is stronger then any creature in this forest, Young Fox. It is no surprise that you were willing to do anything to get it."

"Exactly and Dumbledore knew it too. I should have known not to trust him." Cameron said angrily. He hit his head against the tree and closed his eyes. "No matter what my feelings of Dumbledore are if the school falls when Voldemort attacks it will be my fault. I turned the students against their leader and obviously they've turned against each other as well."

Cameron turned to the centaur with guilty eyes.

"Is revenge on one man worth risking the lives of hundreds?"

Firenze knelt down beside the teen and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"No one can fault you for your desire to extract your revenge on Albus Dumbledore for stealing away your life but if you let the events unfold the way it is told in the stars and do nothing to stop it, you are no better then him." Firenze said. Cameron nodded.

"So you're telling me to go try to save the school?" he asked.

"The decision is yours to make, Young Fox but remember this; years ago when you first came to the Forest your heart was heavy with sorrow for your predicament and guilt for what could have happened to your schoolmates. Neither that guilt nor that sorrow has lifted but before you is the chance to do something to help ease it; saving hundreds of lives will more then rectify your mistake."

Cameron sat motionless as he let these words wash over him. He let his mind wander through all the sleepless nights he'd spent wishing for a way to make the painful weight of guilt lift off his shoulders. Saving Hogwarts would fulfill Dumbledore's wish. Letting Hogwarts fall would destroy Cameron's chance to redeem himself at least in his own eyes. The hundreds of trusting faces staring at him as he manipulated their minds flashed through his mind. Cameron thought back to how willingly they had accepted the word of a boy they hardly knew anything about. He realized that if he didn't act now all of those trusting, willing faces would be captured and put under the Dark Lord's control.

Firenze watched the personal battle reflect on Cameron's face. The centaur knew what the teen would do even before he transformed into a fox and sprinted away into the forest.

"Good luck, Young Fox."

Cameron flew out of the forest, transforming into his human form in the air of his last leap. Everywhere the battle for Hogwarts raged. Aurors and Death Eaters were locked in heated group battles and fierce duels. No one noticed the teen as he sprinted up to the Entrance Hall doors.

Inside the castle was even worse then the outside. Ruble that was once stone walls littered the ground around countless bodies of both Death Eaters and Aurors. School ghosts and suits of armor aided the wizards in anyway possible as they worked to push the Death Eaters out of the school.

Cameron recalled from his days at Hogwarts that during an emergency students would either be herded into the Great Hall or locked in their House Common rooms. Hoping for the first option Cameron sprinted through the corridors. Spells and hexes flew past him from every angle and direction. Precious seconds were spent diving and waiting for a clear chance to run. Finally just as he burst through the Great Hall doors he threw himself to the ground as dozens of curses shot directly at him. When the last spell flashed by Cameron stood and pushed the doors shut behind him at once. When he turned back around almost every wand was aimed at some part of him. He raised his hands as a sign of surrender.

"Just hear me out." He said.

"No way Cameron, you took us from bad to worse every time you opened your mouth." Zacharias Smith said angrily. Murmurs of agreements buzzed through the hall. Cameron closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Harry and Draco stepped out of the crowd and placed themselves between Cameron and the angry mob.

"We asked him to come." Harry said firmly.

"Why the bloody hell would you do that?" Ron shouted.

"Because like it or not we need him." Draco answered.

"While Cameron was here he finally got us to come together and act like a school should." Harry reminded everyone.

"All house differences were pushed aside because something seemed more important or at least more interesting." Draco added.

"But then Cameron left and everything fell apart." Harry said.

"This time was worse because it wasn't just house against house like before. This time it was friend against friend, family member against family member. We all have had to eat lunch alone or else a fight would break out and someone would get hurt." Draco put in.

"Every bond that was built either over time or just this year was completely destroyed. Now our school is facing the same fate." Harry continued.

"Cameron managed to fix broken bonds and create new ones. We asked him here to help us. Now we are asking you to let him." Draco finished. He and Harry stepped to either side of Cameron and let him take center stage.

"Forget whatever feelings you have against me and remember how you felt when all of you came together that very first time. Remember the feeling of pure power coursing through you." Cameron paused and let the words linger for a moment.

"That kind of power doesn't come from a single person. Power like that only comes from a group united against a single thing. I'm not saying you have to love or even like each other but I am telling you to accept there are differences among you. Look at these two." Cameron gestured to Harry on his right and Draco at his left, "All of you know the animosity between them. But despite four years of petty hate they managed to set most their differences aside and come together in an effort to save the school. They had the power to do it. Do any of you?"

The question hung heavy in the air as everyone considered it. Seamus Finnegan stepped through the crowd until he found Zacharias Smith. The Gryffindor stuck out his right hand and looked the other boy square in the eye. Zacharias looked at the offered hand for a moment before taking it and shaking firmly. As if freed of some sort of trance the rest of the students began coming together. A few hugged and others shook hands while others merely nodded at each other wordlessly. While all this was happening Harry and Draco turned to Cameron.

"How the bloody hell did you actually manage that?" Draco asked in awe.

Cameron shrugged.

"I didn't have to do much and I couldn't have done it without you two." He held his hand out to each boy and shook their hands firmly. "Thank you."

By now the rest of the students were looking to Cameron, waiting for further instruction.

"Alright, I think I've got a plan but by the looks of things out there we don't have a lot of time."

Cameron went on to explain his idea. It took a while to get the finer details roughly worked out but soon everyone stood with determined expressions glowing on their faces.

"Everyone understand what to do?" Cameron called out. The group nodded and punched the air in excitement.

"Then let's go show these Death Eaters what happens when you mess with Hogwarts!"


	7. end of the beginning

The group split up into its four separate houses. Each house went through a different secret passage to get to one of four towers. Thanks to the Weasley twins no one would have to actually go through any part of the battle. By now the sun was low in the sky and Cameron watched the shadows of the forest shift away from where he stood on the Ravenclaw tower. By now he'd been out of the Forest for a good deal of time and he rubbed his chest as it began to ache.

"Are you alright?" Cho Chang asked worriedly. Cameron nodded and lowered his hand.

"Send your signal." He said. Cho raised her wand and sent a shower of sapphire sparks into the sky along with the cry of a raven. Everyone in her house did the same and soon a solid tunnel of sapphire light shot into the sky. The signal was met with the emerald sparks and snake hiss of Slytherin, the golden sparks and badger call of Hufflepuff, and the ruby sparks and lion's roar of Gryffindor.

By now all activity on Hogwarts grounds had stopped almost completely as the adults stared in wonder at the pillars of light shooting into the sky. Suddenly jets of light shot out of each pillar connecting with each of the others until the sky was a solid mass of colorful light. The lights grew in intensity until it was impossible to look at without feeling your eyes burn. A shimmering white dome came out of the lights and began to fall over Hogwarts and its grounds like a blinding white blanket. The castle and ground began to shake violently but the students held their wands steady as they poured their power into the lights.

Before anyone knew what was happening beams of jet black light shout of the brilliant white dome. Drawn by the powerful magic of the Dark Marks branded on every Death Eaters arm the light wrapped itself around them and pulled them into the walls of the dome where they let out blood curdling screams before disintegrating. Death Eaters tried to flee deeper into the castle but the light captured them anyway. Soon all the Death Eaters were gone and the dome faded into nothing. Aurors and teachers flooded Hogwarts grounds and stared up at the students in shock. All the houses celebrated wildly and began running back down the spiral staircases of the towers. The students poured out onto the grounds, capturing each other in group hugs.

Cameron was the last one out of the castle but fell to his knees on the entrance hall stairs. He squeezed his eyes shut against the pain shooting from his chest to his entire body. Suddenly Cameron felt a pair of hands pull him up by either arm.

"What's wrong with him?" Ron asked.

"I don't know. Let's take him to the Hospital wing." Harry suggested. Cameron gasped painfully and shook his head.

"No…forest." He said through gritted teeth. He couldn't fight back the pained cry from erupting from his throat. "Take me to the forest!" He cried.

Harry and Ron looked at each other uncertainly but when Cameron seemed to be fighting for consciousness they slung his arms over their shoulders and took off running towards the Forbidden forest.

"Harry, Ron, get away from him!" Sirius called angrily. He and Lupin ran after the boys, attracting more attention to the situation. Soon the students were falling in behind the group whispering worriedly and trying to figure out what had happened. Everyone stared in confusion as Ron and Harry laid Cameron under the shade of the closest tree of the Forbidden Forest. With darkness falling rapidly most of the students kept their distance from the Forests tree line but still gathered around to see was happening with Cameron.

After a few minutes Cameron's face and muscles relaxed and his eyes fluttered open. He had to use the tree to help him stand but by the time he got his balance all signs of pain seemed to have left him completely.

"Thanks." He said to Ron and Harry who were staring at him as if expecting him to collapse again. By now Remus and Sirius were on either side of Harry and glaring at Cameron.

"Did I not tell you very specifically to stay away from him?!" Sirius said hotly. Cameron's expression was unreadable as he stood in the shadows. He didn't react at all under Sirius' intense gaze.

"Siri, he just saved the entire school." Harry argued. Remus stepped forward and extended his hand to his former schoolmate.

"I believe we owe you our thanks, Cameron." He said. After slight hesitation Cameron took the offered hand and shook it firmly.

"If I'm stuck here I'd rather not have Death Eaters for neighbors." He joked. A few students laughed lightly. Cameron's smile faded and he suddenly looked younger and more vulnerable then any of the students had ever seen him.

"Sirius," he started. "I know it might not mean anything but I want you to know I am s-sorry for what I did. It started as a joke that got way out of hand." All eyes turned to Sirius. The man's gaze went from Cameron's face to Harry's, to Remus's and then back to Cameron's. He sighed heavily and extended his hand.

"Apology accepted." He said. Cameron beamed and shook the man's hand. A few people clapped and a few girls cooed at the touching moment. A comfortable silence fell as the pair dropped hands.

"Well what are you lot waiting for? Get up to the castle and celebrate!" Cameron urged.

"What about you?" Seamus asked.

"Yeah you have to join us." George called. Cameron shook his head.

"Thanks for the invite but I don't think it'd be a good idea. I'd hate for this pair to have to carry me back to the forest if I loose track of time."

"Then we can move the party out here!" A seventh year Hufflepuff suggested. Cameron shook his head again.

"That'd be great but it's getting late and not everything in the forest is as nice as me."

The group grumbled and Cameron laughed.

"Don't let me ruin your nights. Get in there and have a few drinks for me."

Sirius nudged him with his elbow.

"I don't think I heard of you ever stopping at a few drinks." He said with a wink. Cameron laughed.

"What do you know? You were just a firsty."

"That might be true but don't think we didn't hear about your partying style. Or do you not remember a certain Christmas party during which you thought it might be fun to go skinny dipping in the Lake?" Sirius joked. Cameron covered his face and shook his head.

"I can't believe it. My housemates sold me out." He said as he laughed. Then he addressed the other students.

"On second thought stick to pumpkin juice or else you might end up naked and frozen by the Black Lake." His words were met with laughter. "Well I guess I'd best be off. Doesn't look like you lot are getting very far with me just standing here." Cameron waved at everyone and with a final look over the crowd he transformed and disappeared into the forest. Everyone watched him leave and stared after him when he was out of sight. Slowly the crowd thinned as people headed back to the castle for a party. It wasn't long before the only ones left were Harry, Draco, Sirius, and Remus. Finally Sirius put his arm over Harry's shoulders and led his godson back up to the castle. Remus patted Draco on his back and the pair followed their friends.

In the castle students, aurors, and teachers munched on treats and sipped drinks as they mingled together. Dumbledore stepped up to the podium by the head table and the conversations ceased.

"I am very proud of all of you. You showed exceptional bravery and power tonight. As a special treat all finals are here by cancelled."

The hall erupted in cheers and Draco leaned over to Harry who sat across from him.

"He goes from threatening to expel us to cancelling our finals. Cameron was right, he want us behind him pretty bad." He said. Blaise, Harry, Ron, and Pansy all nodded in agreement.

"Furthermore we will not be awarding the House Cup to any one house this year. Instead all the houses will be given a special plaque with the names of all those in the house this year. The plaques will be hung here in the Great Hall for all to see."

When the clapping died down Dumbledore turned to sit but Fred stood up.

"What about Cameron?" he asked. Dumbledore fixed the red head with a curious stare.

"What of him, Mr. Weasley? Mr. Scott is in the Forest where he belongs." He said.

"But he doesn't belong there!" Harry argued.

"He saved the entire school from getting taken over by You-Know-Who!" Anthony Goldstein pointed out.

"Cameron is not a part of this school and he is none of your concern." Dumbledore said firmly. No one missed the angry flash behind his cool blue eyes.

"Yeah but he helped us anyway!" Draco snapped.

"And he almost died doing it because of your curse!" Hermione said.

"You brought him into the school to make your dream of school unity come true." George started as he stood beside his brother.

"And he did." Lee continued.

"Now you owe him something in return." Harry finished.

Dumbledore looked out over his students and saw hundreds of determined faces staring back. Each eye held a challenging gleam. He bowed his head and looked up again.

"What do you propose I do?" he asked silkily.

"Set him free." The students chorused together.

Dumbledore nodded and stepped down from his podium. Students parted from the headmaster but fell back in behind him as he passed. The teachers and aurors moved to the windows of the Great Hall to watch as the large group made its way to the forest.

Once at the tree line Dumbledore called for a house elf.

"Please go into the forest and bring Cameron here." He said. The house-elf bowed deeply before disappearing with a soft pop. Minutes passed and the younger students began to fidget nervously from being so close to the forest at night. Finally the house-elf reappeared with a silver fox at its side. The elf disappeared and Cameron transformed.

"Don't tell me you need my help again already." He said with a smirk.

"At the request of my students I have come to release you of your bond to the forest." Dumbledore said.

"How do I know you won't just curse me so I can't leave the forest at all?" Cameron challenged.

"That is just a chance you're going to have to take." Dumbledore said. His voice was icy and his eyes shone with something Cameron couldn't quite read. Distrust was visible in Cameron's own eyes but his desperation for freedom out weighed it.

"Alright." He said.

Dumbledore raised his wand and the students around him stepped back. Soon the only sound was the murmur of Dumbledore casting a long, complex spell.

An intense violet light surrounded Cameron. After a few seconds he began to squeeze his eyes shut and clench his fists.

Ron leaned over to Hermione.

"What do you know about this spell?" he asked.

"Not much but I do know it's not supposed to cause any pain. The one it's cast on should only feel some minor discomfort." Hermione answered.

But as Cameron cried out in pain and fell to his knees gasping it was obvious he was feeling more then slight discomfort. The students watched as Cameron bit his lip so hard it bled. His knuckles were white as he grabbed handfuls of grass.

"ALBUS STOP!"

The students turned and saw Sirius running towards the headmaster with a wild look on his face.

"It has to be done Sirius." Dumbledore called back.

On the ground the light flashed once and a silver fox appeared. It flashed again and Cameron returned screaming in agony. Cameron was forced to transform back and forth five more times before Sirius was able to wrench Dumbledore's wand away. The teen collapsed into a heap gasping for breath and fighting back tears. Hermione and Ginny rushed forward and rolled the boy on his back. His eyes were closed and his breaths came in short, pained gasps. As Sirius struggled to keep Dumbledore from continuing his attack on the teenager students formed a human wall between the headmaster and Cameron.

Hermione held Cameron's head in her lap and kept running her fingers through his hair. She couldn't pull her eyes off the small streak of blood running from the corner of the boy's mouth to his chin. Ginny used her sleeve to gently wipe it away. Neither girl looked up until Sirius knelt down beside them. Ginny spoke up quietly.

"I can hardly find a pulse and his breathing is so shallow." She said as a tear rolled down her cheek. "What did Dumbledore do Sirius?"

The man took a deep breath.

"The spell he used is specifically designed to kill an animagus." He explained softly. "It attacks both the human and spirit soul and works to rip them apart."

"Is there anything we can do?" Pansy asked from the group of students. Sirius shook his head grimly.

"If he wakes up he won't make it through the night." The words hung over the crowd like an ominous cloud. Everyone jumped lightly at the pained groan from Cameron. His eyes flickered open and shone with agony and betrayal. He pushed himself away from Hermione and unsteadily forced himself to stand. Wordlessly, Cameron pushed through the group of students closest to the forest.

"Cameron." A few people called. The boy didn't slow or even look back. He walked straight into the Forbidden Forest and kept going until the shadows claimed him.

No one moved. No one spoke. No one could believed what they had just witnessed their Headmaster do. Lupin and Sirius were the last to leave the Forest's edge. Remus put a hand on Sirius shoulder and the animagus jerked slightly in surprise but relaxed almost immediately.

"If Cameron hadn't sent us into the forest that first time we wouldn't have ever thought to go in it again. And we would have never known you were a werewolf." He said. Lupin nodded.

"At first I hated him for it but now I wish I'd thought to thank him."

Weeks passed and Hogwarts underwent its third major change in just one school year. During the first few days after Dumbledore attacked Cameron all the students refused to listen to anything Dumbledore told them. They held large sleepovers in each others common rooms and refused to go to the classes of teachers who supported what the headmaster had done. On the fourth day of this however Dumbledore welded his power and instigated three new rules.

No student is to associate with any other from a house other then their own.

Any student found out of class for ANY reason will serve three hours detention for one week.

There shall be no talk about the headmaster's choice of actions.

The day after the rules were set Harry and Draco decided to test them out. At lunch that day they sat together at the edge of the Ravenclaw table so that if there was any trouble they would both get blamed for it. The boys hadn't planned to include their friends on their plans but soon after sitting down Ron, Blaise, Hermione, Ginny, Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle, Fred, and George all joined them at the table.

"What do you suppose Dumbledore's going to do when he sees us all?" Blaise asked. Fred and George scoffed.

"Probably flip his lid like our mum does whenever we take the car."

The ones who knew Mrs. Weasley all laughed but the Slytherins simply nodded.

"Oi, there he comes." Ron said, pointing to the Head table. As usual Dumbledore scanned the tables for any signs of rule breaking and when his eyes landed on the group at the end of the Ravenclaw table he stood up sharply.

"All of you here, now." He demanded, gesturing to the space in front of the table. The group looked at each other for a moment before trekking up to face their punishments. Right as they reached the head table the Great Halls doors burst open and a shimmering silver fox sat in the door way. Dumbledore stared at the fox in disbelief and soon all his gaze caught the attention of the students. The fox sat as it waited for all attention to fall on it. When every eye was on him he transformed and Cameron stood in its place. He glared up at the head table and smirked.

"Damn Dumbledore you just can't seem to get rid of me can you?" he said icily.

"H-how is this possible?" the headmaster stammered in disbelief. Cameron walked up to the head table and stepped between the small group standing there and Dumbledore.

"It's pretty amazing what a centaur is capable of when he's not focused on Mars."

A few students slowly came out of their shock and laughed.

"Turns out there's some sort of plant in the Forbidden Forest that has the ability to counter the effects of that spell of yours." Cameron reached into his pocket and pulled out a long sleek black wand. He aimed his wand directly at the headmasters chest and the students behind him gasped slightly.

"I could do it you know?" Cameron hissed. "Nothing would make me happier then to say those two words that would rip the life out of your worthless old body." Dumbledore met Cameron's fierce gaze but couldn't hold it for long.

Slowly Cameron lowered his wand and pocketed it.

"But I won't. I won't because that would be the kindest thing I could possibly do to you at this point. You see these students will go home and tell their parents about what you've done here. They'll tell them what I did to save the school and they'll tell how you almost killed me in spite of it. You might make them swear not to speak of any of this ever again but at least one of them will defy you just like before. If by some miracle you don't loose your job I will return once every so often to turn a whole new batch of students against you so that you will never have the school behind you again. Hogwarts is truly all you have Dumbledore and by taking it from you I am slowly killing you from the inside out." With that Cameron turned to the group directly behind him.

"Looks like you lot managed to hold everything together this time." He said with a smile. Cameron led the group down to the main floor and slowly more and more students crowded around them talking excitedly about the teen's miraculous survival.

Dumbledore watched his students embrace the teen as one of their own and shook his head.

"What am I going to do Minerva? He will do exactly as he says and I am powerless to stop him."

"But Albus you cannot merely sit by and watch him turn our students against you." McGonagall argued.

"Do you have a better suggestion?" Dumbledore challenged.

"If I may sir I might be of assistance."

Dumbledore and McGongall turned to face the owner of the voice.

"You have a plan Severus?" Dumbledore asked. Snape nodded once.

"Indeed I do."

**THE END!**


End file.
